Air Niugini is expected to have sufficient aviation fuel to keep its services ongoing after the airline company signed a recent contract to purchase a cargo of jet fuel directly from Puma Energy’s international supplier; however, the wait for the jet fuel to arrive might be a bit too long. In a statement released today, the fuel company revealed that subject to Air Niugini fulfilling the new contract, replacement jet fuel is expected to be available in Port Moresby by late this week, but unfortunately, due to the court order forcing Puma Energy to maintain maximum supply of jet fuel to Air Niugini, its existing supply has depleted significantly quicker than Puma had expected. “We believe that despite our efforts to preserve limited stock, Puma Energy will have no further jet fuel available in Port Moresby from as early as today - until such time as the replacement cargo purchased by Air Niugini arrives.” This could likely see some flight disruptions for a period of time, but Air Niugini has been presented with a number of mitigating options by Puma Energy to maintain their flight schedule, including utilizing jet fuel available in airports outside of Port Moresby city. “We continue to protect jet supply to meet demand for emergency services, including medical operators and the police in Port Moresby. Despite the active court order, we believe Air Niugini will allow fuel supply for emergency services to be prioritized in the interest of Papua New Guinea (PNG).” Puma Energy’s decision to reduce the size of its operations and fuel supply proportionate to the capacity of its remaining banking channels, was announced last week and came after extensive engagement with various government stakeholders, including the Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) to find a long-term and sustainable banking solution. Puma Energy continues to urge the Government set up a task force to minimize the impact on fuel supply disruptions to communities and the economy. Despite the current challenges, Puma Energy remains committed to staying in PNG in the long term. The company's management remains hopeful that it can increase its banking capacity and grow back the size of its business to historical levels.